Pune: Having worked together in the Free Press Journal in 1947 as political cartoonists, the bond between Bal Thackeray and noted cartoonist R.K.Laxman remained intact through the passage of time, spanning decades.
The last gesture the Shiv Sena chief made to his cartoonist friend was sending a bouquet to Laxman at his Pune residence when the latter turned 91 on 24 October, Usha, Laxman’s daughter-in-law, said.
“Their emotional attachment had become more intense in the last few years after R.K. suffered a stroke. Balasaheb visited him in Breach Candy hospital to boost his spirit saying the mind should triumph over body,” she recalled.
In a rare visit outside Mumbai earlier this year, Thackeray came down to Pune to meet an ailing Laxman at his residence and spent nearly an hour with him. “He even recommended a homeopath to treat his ailment and presented a silver image of Saibaba”, she said, adding that the family deeply grieved the demise of someone who was close to them.
